Smartphones are secretly inextricable parts of our daily life. To outdoor workers, phone durability would be a major factor. This year, apart from the professional rugged phone, what stands out is that the OPPO A3 Pro resists drops, waterproofing, long-lasting batteries, and great prices. The OPPO A3 Pro, with a launch dating back to April, comes with IP69, IP68, and IP66 ratings for dust and water resistance. The adoption of Crystal Shield glass on the back and Gorilla Glass in the front, besides a diamond structure at corners, guarantees 360° drop protection and thus has won it the name of a “durability champion”.
In July, OPPO upgraded its durability technology even further. Now, the A3 Pro boasts double-sided drop and wear resistance, comprehensive daily waterproofing, and a long-lasting battery that remains reliable for over four years. Now, such a “durability champion” can be yours with a price tag of only 1,599 yuan.
Key features and specifications of the OPPO A3 Pro
1. Enhanced Drop and Wear Resistance
The OPPO A3 Pro will feature a rugged diamond structure that has been upgraded with strengthened materials. The Crystal Shield glass provides 160% more protection in case of falls and triples scratch resistance compared to microcrystalline glass. It can handle as high as up to 1.5 meters of falls; use a reinforced corner and reinforced middle frame for better 360° protection. The Swiss SGS recognizes this with its Gold Label five-star certification, and it also passed 18 national military standard impact tests.
2. Improved Water Resistance
Conventionally, the OPPO A3 Pro is designed based on nine waterproof technologies to plug all water entrance points from the screen and the sides. It resists high-pressure water flows and enables everyday splashes, hence easily cleanable without the fear of getting damaged by water.
3. Long-lasting Battery Life
Equipped with a super-durable battery and 45W Super Flash Charge, the OPPO A3 Pro ‘provides all-day long use with just one charge’. Even after four years, this battery runs well. Extreme cold charging mode will support as low as -20°C, much beyond the erstwhile industry limit of -15°C to ensure reliability in extreme conditions.
Appearance: A Rare Frosted Glass Back on a Budget Smartphone
The OPPO A3 features a 6.7-inch OLED sleek design; the plastic bracket removal has made the phone even more compact in look, with a 93.7% screen-to-body ratio. This display supports a peak brightness of 1200 nits, a resolution of 2414×1080 resolution, and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. At the very top, a centrally aligned, circular front camera houses an 8-megapixel GalaxyCore GC08A8 sensor.
The bottom bezel, though, is surprisingly thin—making the OPPO A3 boast vastly better screen appeal than most rivals at this price point. On the back is frosted glass to give it a distinctive texture. It sits in the hand comfortably and doesn’t seem to show too many fingerprints.
The OPPO A3 features Crystal Shield glass on its screen, which can resist dropping 1.6 times better than normal glass and has greatly enhanced scratch resistance. The mountain green version features an ultra-wear-resistant crystal diamond process at the back, improving further the durability of the back panel.
What else
It is ingeniously installed between the back cover and the main body with foam glue to fill up gaps, make it drop-resistant, and Extras. It is higher than the lens and equipped with a secondary tempered glass lens protection ring for a camera that is drop-resistant and wear-resistant. The camera is in a centrally located ring module.
The OPPO A3 is designed with a diamond four-corner and anti-collision beam that gives it a raise, widens, and reinforces the structure to its front, back, and middle frame, enhancing the overall structural integrity. Added anti-drop materials enhance its 360-degree protection, making it highly resistant to falls.
It also has an “airbag” design internally with foams, silicone pads, and other cushioning materials around its key components, such as the camera, motor, speaker, and battery, so that the device as a whole is always safe.
Inside the box, the OPPO A3 is equipped with a 45W SUPERVOOC fast charging kit to support fast and easy charging.
Protection Capability Test: The “Durability Champion”
Equipped with a diamond structure ultra-drop-resistant and Crystal Shield glass, the OPPO A3 lives to its name as the “god of war” when it comes to dropping, scratching, and water resistance. These characteristics guarantee that the phone can withstand shocks from unintentional falls in daily use and effectively avoid scratching and cracking of the screen.
Besides, OPPO A3 has the highest level of waterproofing. With its nine waterproof technologies, it will strengthen vulnerable points like the display screen, USB port, buttons, card slot pinholes, card slot, speaker holes, decorative parts, middle circle buttons, and battery back cover. It is comprehensive protection, much like a waterproof moat protecting the phone from water damage during long-term use.
Durability tests
To verify the protection capability of OPPO A3, we will perform a series of tests on this device, ranging from drop resistance, wear resistance, and scratch resistance, to water resistance.
1. Drop Test
We tested the phone by using its screen to crack a cardboard walnut. Surprisingly, it remained intact without scratching; this is why the front screen is strong. This means that even if the phone falls out of your pocket, the screen is unlikely to be affected.
2. Scratch Resistance Test
In this test, we have deliberately scratched the phone screen using a key. We could not find any scratch on the surface after very close observation. Results showed that OPPO A3 has very high scratch resistance, guaranteeing no harm to the screen when carrying it in your pocket or together with sharp objects like keys.
3. Waterproof Test
We simulated daily use scenarios by letting the phone go directly under a faucet. The touch response and screen display of the phone were normal after flushing, without any abnormalities at all. IP65-level waterproof capability ensures that it works with splashes, rain, or slight water immersion in daily life, so users can use it freely in these scenarios without the slightest fear of water damage.
Camera: 50-Megapixel Dual-Camera Module for Everyday Photography Ends
On the back, the OPPO A3 comes with a dual-camera setup using a 50-megapixel Samsung S5KJNSSQ33-FGX9 sensor with the main camera. The photosensitive area is 1/2.76 inches, it has a pixel size of 0.64μm with f/1.85 aperture. The secondary camera features a 2-megapixel OV02B1B sensor, 1/5″ photosensitive area, 1.75μm pixel size, and f/2.4 aperture.
Here are some sample photos taken using the OPPO A3:
Daytime Samples
The OPPO A3 does pretty well in well-lit scenarios. It doesn’t oversaturate, and the color representation looks natural and close to accurate. The photos turn out realistic, and the blur effect is clear, showing that the clarity and color performance we would expect within this price range is there. Obviously, the camera performance cannot be extraordinary, but it corresponds to its price.
Nighttime Samples
It shines most at night with its night scene mode since the camera can capture clear and pure night scenes with a long exposure. It controls the highlight in complex lighting conditions, avoiding glare, especially when there is a strong light source to deal with, and provides a harmonious and balanced visual effect.
Equipped with such features, the OPPO A3 camera serves everyday photography demands during the day and at night, which ensures reliability.
Game Performance: Smooth Gameplay for Mainstream Mobile Games
The OPPO A3 is fuelled by the Snapdragon 695 mobile platform, realizing 6nm process technology. It features an octa-core processor: 2 high-performance 2.2GHz Cortex-A78 cores and 6 efficient 1.8GHz Cortex-A55 cores. The phone is available with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X 2133MHz memory and UFS2.2 flash memory; ours had the base configuration of 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
We tested the OPPO A3 game performance at an ambient temperature of 28°C. Two popular mobile games were used: “QQ Speed” and “Honor of Kings”. Both games were tested at the highest frame rate and picture quality settings, and data was recorded regarding frame rate, power consumption, energy efficiency, and device temperature.
Honor of Kings
- Performance: At high-definition picture quality, it held an average FPS of 59.79.
- Power Consumption: The average power consumption was about 2.07W, with an energy efficiency ratio of about 28.88.
- After a 15-minute game session, the highest back temperature reached 39.3°C, feeling comfortably warm to hold, not overly hot.
These tests demonstrate that the OPPO A3 handles popular mobile games well, offering stable performance without overheating.
Charging and Battery Life: Full Charge in 1 Hour for Nearly 14 Hours of Use
The OPPO A3 features a robust 4870mAh battery designed to last for over four years under optimal conditions and safe operation. It supports extreme cold charging, allowing warming and charging at -20°C, surpassing the industry standard of -15°C.
According to the tech spec, this phone supports up to 45W wired fast charging. The company claims the charger can reach 27% in 15 minutes and 50% in 30 minutes. We ran a couple of charging and battery life tests to see how far these claims held up.
Charging Test
From 1% battery, the OPPO A3 reached:
- 21% in 10 minutes
- 40% in 20 minutes
- 57% in 30 minutes
- 98% in 1 hour
- 100% in 63 minutes.
This was marginally higher than the officially claimed figure.
Battery Life Test
Using the professional battery-life-test app, Battery Dog by Fast Technology, we could simulate tasks equivalent to real-life situations. Among the test tasks are CPU high voltage, CPU multithreading, AI recognition, image browsing, video playback, and web browsing. Settings also include adjusting screen brightness to 50%, turning off auto-brightness, and putting the volume at 30%.
The battery drained from 100% to 20% in 12 hours, 21 minutes, and 23 seconds. Based on these results, fully charging the OPPO A3 could provide up to about 14 hours of reliable use.
Overview
A rare durable solution within the thousand-yuan price range.
Added to this, the display on the OPPO A3 is simply outstanding, with an original sleek design that is comfortable to hold, and really high-quality fine workmanship. In fact, it packs quite an interesting offer, keeping it on par with others in its price range.
No more being over-cautious with your phone in rainy weather. With its Corning glass at the front and diamond-structured corners, the OPPO A3 provides users with full 360-degree protection against falls. This solid build will let users use their phones boldly without adding the weight and thickness of protective cases and tempered films. The OPPO A3 brings sturdiness and lightness to meet the users’ basic needs.
The OPPO A3 is ideal for outdoor grassroots workers, focusing on durability and long battery life. The phone, with a 4870mAh battery and Snapdragon 695 chip, lasted 14 hours on a full charge in Battery Dog tests. That makes it a great companion when users are often out and about or on business trips. Furthermore, its battery’s four-year lifespan and extreme cold charging mode enhance functionality in various conditions.
The OPPO A3 combines anti-drop, waterproof features, and a large battery for safety and durability in its competitive market. Elegant in being lightweight and beautiful, it boasts top-notch waterproof and drop-proof capabilities and ultra-long battery life. Few options at this price offer durability like the OPPO A3, ideal for long-lasting mobile use.
